Vacation Log

Tuesday (Arrive in London, England)
Promptly took a nap once arrived into town. The hotel room was tiny. The beds were on wheels. The shower pressure was excellent. After nap, family and I went to the British Museum, where I feasted my eyes on the Rosetta stone. There were also a lot of paintings of Jesus. Following that, we went to dinner in China town. (lol, why are we not having fish and chips?)

Wednesday
Used Big Bus hop-on hop-off tours. (They suck, don't use them. Buses are way too infrequent.)
We went to the Tower of London. This was a fortress at some point or another. There were torture chambers. It was rainy. We also went to Kensington Palace. It was closed by the time we got there. For dinner, we went Italian. (Why not fish and chips!?!)

Thursday
We went to Windsor Castle, which had considerable Jesus stuff. I was very glad I read my reformation history book (see Book Library). We also went back to Kensington Palace... It was not as fun as I would hope. It was really...really...girly. Fish and chips for dinner!

Friday
We found that Notre Dame was too expensive to go in. So we went to St. Margaret's Cathedral instead. St Paul's cathedral was excellent. Very cool artwork. Also if you climb to the peak (500+ stairs), you'll get a lovely view of the city. Also went to the National Gallery, which I think was the highlight of Britain. There I feasted my eyes on treasures such as this and this and this. We went for incredibly expensive Indian food for dinner.

Saturday
Woke up at 4:30 AM thinking it was 7:30 AM. There is so much more daylight in London. Didn't help that none of my family had watches. We went to Bath to see a bathhouse. We also saw Salisbury, there is a church there. It houses a copy of the Magna Carta. Pretty cool stuff. Finally, saw stone henge. Everyone should go see it once in their life. In the evening, we took night pictures with my brother's camera. Spotlights accentuate peculiarities of monuments that one does not capture during the daytime.

Sunday
Chunnel it to Paris. First stop, this incredibly ghetto flea market which I wanted to leave immediately. It was hilarious... my mom was excessive in her vigilance for thieves, all of us wearing our safety belts, safe drinking water...etc. And in this incredibly sketch flea market where the people can't speak a lick of English and gangsters are idling on street corners, she wants to go around in shop.

Struggled a little bit with trying to get a phone card. Manage to call friends! Meet up with friends, and make new ones. We visit Notre Dame and following that have dinner. My parents chinese'd the bill, so my friends ended up ninja'ing Monday's bill. It was cool as they were all Christian and I had some spiritual discussions with some of them. Following that, checked out the Eiffel tower at night. If you go see it at night, make sure to watch it on the hours, as it will light up!

Monday
Through the busy streets of Montmartre and up the many many stairs to Sacre Coeur, a cathedral. Watch out for strange men offering to tie your hands with their friendship bracelet. I declined their offer. We also went to the Lourve. French museums need English signs. The Mona Lisa is definitely over-hyped. Arc De Triomphe & Champ D'elysee for a little while, followed by dinner at Chez Papa. Their Big salad is BIG! It's like meat dumped on two pieces of lettuce.

Tuesday
We went to Dorsey museum, I remembered it being a lot more fun when I visited the first time. It's okay. I brought a book. We saw Napolean's tomb at L'armee Museum. I need to learn more French History....well, history in general. Following that, we went to the Ridon Museum. He was the creator of the Thinker. You should check out his lesser known art, The Gates of Hell. Also went on a boat tour...which I fell asleep on.... and went to the top of the Montparnasse tower... could see all over Paris on that thing.

Wednesday
In the Chateau de Versailles, there is this absolutely stunning garden. I'm not talking some small garden in your backyard. I'm talking Louis XIV's kilometers of gardens. The Grand Chanel would be the perfect spot for a paddle boat + picnic date. My brother and I tried to do some shopping, but there was nothing affordable/eye-catching..with the exception of Uniqlo. Finally, we had a small good bye dinner with the young'ns. (My parents wanted to do their own thing.) Afterwards, we went for some ice cream. (Girls, you have to get Paris ice cream. They'll make it into a flower for you.) Jumping pictures at Notre Dame, followed by good byes.

Thursday
Flight back. Watched The Hurt Locker and read some books. It's amazing what you can get done while on a plane.

Random Thoughts:
- I find that my general knowledge of history embarrassing.
- The world is a big place.
- I need to learn another language.
- More adventures!
- After re-reading this post, incredibly difficult to read... Maybe I should master English first.